A Gulf Air jet from Cairo crashed into the Persian Gulf yesterday after its crew tried unsuccessfully to land in Bahrain. All 143 people on board were feared dead.

U.S. Navy helicopters and destroyers stationed nearby joined the nighttime search-and-rescue effort off the northern coast of Bahrain.

“More than 70 bodies, most of them children, have been recovered and there are more bodies in the sea,” said Bahraini Civil Defense Cmdr. Brig. Abdul-Rahman Bin Rashed Al Khalifa.

“Up until now we have not found any survivors.”

An air-traffic controller at the Bahrain airport described watching the Airbus A320 circle the runway twice in an attempt to land, then on the third attempt plunge into the sea and explode into flames.

He saw no flames or sign of trouble before the crash and could not explain why the plane circled before landing.

The plane’s crew did not report anything out of the ordinary, said the controller, who asked not to be named.

The crash occurred at about 7:20 p.m. local time – 12:20 p.m. in New York.

“I could not believe my eyes,” said a resident who saw the crash.

“When I saw it heading toward the sea nose down, I screamed ‘Oh, my God, this thing is going down!'”

He said the plane flew over at an unusually low altitude, heading to the runway, but took a sharp turn toward the sea.

The man and another witness said the plane returned minutes later, flying at an even lower altitude but headed straight to the sea where it crashed.

They said unusual noises came from the plane’s engines, but they saw no flames.

Gulf Air said that 135 passengers and eight crew members were on board Flight GF072.

Gulf Air is owned by Bahrain, the Persian Gulf states of Oman and Qatar, as well as Abu Dhabi, the largest of seven sheikdoms making up the United Arab Emirates.